Sandpaper to make disc quieter?

[Zepfanman]

Every once and a while, I get a Blu-ray or Ultra HD disc that seems to be unbalanced. I've tried one of the new ones I received yesterday in both of my Ultra HD players, and it makes that terribly distracting whirring noise as it's spinning.

I'm not at home at the moment, but I did hear some advice that you could try leveling the player a little better, so I'll try that. But for the disc itself, is there some kind of trick to make it spin better? Sandpaper the top label perhaps?

[oddbox83]

What players have you got that make so much noise they make you want to ruin the discs?

[slimdude]

No! Don't sandpaper the top label of any disc because it's not going to resolve the problem, except the possibility of ruining the disc. I would take it the a repair shop and have them take a look at it. If the cost to repair it, is going to be as much as a new player, then buy a new Blu-ray player.

[bhampton]

This was only good for a laugh.

PLS don't no one use sandpaper on optical discs.


However, -- I have had a few UHD BD that locked up at the layer change (usually around 1 hour into playback) and so far I've been 100% successful solving this by running very hot water over the disc. My house water is set a bit high and I just run some hot water on the disc then dry it and that seems to do something to the layers that results in it working.

[witheygull]

Originally Posted by Zepfanman

Every once and a while, I get a Blu-ray or Ultra HD disc that seems to be unbalanced. I've tried one of the new ones I received yesterday in both of my Ultra HD players, and it makes that terribly distracting whirring noise as it's spinning.

I'm not at home at the moment, but I did hear some advice that you could try leveling the player a little better, so I'll try that. But for the disc itself, is there some kind of trick to make it spin better? Sandpaper the top label perhaps?

Sanding a disc does risk ruining it, and the pearl-clutching/monocle-popping reactions some folks have at the idea of doing it are not without merit. That being said, I have encountered the same issue of annoyingly loud spinning UHDs and have indeed tried sanding the discs.

I have not tried sanding the top side, but I have sanded the edges of discs where there is excessive glue that has been squeezed out in the pressing process during manufacturing. I use fairly fine grit sandpaper (usually more than 200 grit), and am very careful not to damage the playing surface. I have not ruined any discs, and the results have been mixed--ranging from unmitigated success to no difference whatsoever.

Tl;dr: Should you sand discs? No. Can you? Yes, with care.

[Zepfanman]

Thanks for all the responses! I got home this afternoon and leveled my LG player a little better but it didn't help. I did notice that I could get the whirring sound to stop after about 15 or 16 minutes into the film, I guess because the laser reads better towards the outside of the disc. I've had the player for about 3 years and use it just a few times a year primarily for non-region-A/1 discs. https://amazon.com/dp/B07HRX1KTN

My other player is a PS5, which I use as my primary media player for region-A discs and Ultra HD. It's not quite as loud with this disc (StudioCanal's Escape from NY Ultra HD) compared to the LG, but the spinning noise levels off after about 10-15 minutes.

(I've had Escape from New York on my wishlist for a while and sprung for it as I had a good deal from a UK seller and bought several movies from them last month. I didn't realize until today that Shout is releasing the film in 4K this month, so I may return my StudioCanal purchase if the Shout product gets good reviews. If not, maybe i'll experiment with hot water and some light sandpapering!)

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Zepfanman

Every once and a while, I get a Blu-ray or Ultra HD disc that seems to be unbalanced. I've tried one of the new ones I received yesterday in both of my Ultra HD players, and it makes that terribly distracting whirring noise as it's spinning.

I'd try one of those levelling boards before getting out sandpaper.

[Canada]

No way, sandpaper would be a good way to ruin a disc.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by Zepfanman

Thanks for all the responses! I got home this afternoon and leveled my LG player a little better but it didn't help. I did notice that I could get the whirring sound to stop after about 15 or 16 minutes into the film, I guess because the laser reads better towards the outside of the disc. I've had the player for about 3 years and use it just a few times a year primarily for non-region-A/1 discs.

Maybe you're not using it enough. Once you start using Blu-ray players, you have to use them regularly to keep the parts and the mechanisms lubricated. It's just like a car! If you store a car for months or years inside of a garage or somewhere, it will go bad and won't start because it's been sitting too long, and not being driven. The gas, oil and fluids have to keep circulate throughout the engine system to lubricate the part, and keep the battery charged to help it to start.

[CompleteCount]

A bargain basement solution which might have some effect is putting neoprene squares under the player to absorb some of the vibration.

I have done this on a few players over the years, with varying degrees of success, each dependent of the machine. With some, it works very well, getting rid of most excess noise and quieting things down. The least effective was on a multi-region Blu-ray from Pioneer - it sounds like someone doing the hoovering without the neoprene, and someone hoovering next door with it.

Neoprene is cheap, and surely better to try that first than anything might be cause damage to discs or machine.

[oddbox83]

LG player? Those are renowned for being noisy.

I can't speak for the PS5.

[McGarnigal]

My Panasonic 820 player got noisier with discs around the 3 year mark

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by McGarnigal

My Panasonic 820 player got noisier with discs around the 3 year mark

It's the drive wheel.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by witheygull

...where there is excessive glue that has been squeezed out in the pressing process during manufacturing.

That's not how it works.

[witheygull]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

That's not how it works.

How does it work then? Some UHDs that spin louder than usual during playback for me have globs of a substance with the texture and consistency of dried glue on their edges. If it's not glue, what is it and why is it there?

[teddyballgame]

I use the angle grinder on em. Perfectly balanced now